The National Organization for Marriage has run out of appeals and must now disclose the identities of the handful of uber-rich donors who finance their role in the nation’s anti-marriage campaigns. (SCOTUSblog)

…the Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a constitutional challenge to a Maine law that requires those seeking to raise and spend money in state election campaigns to organize as a political action committee for that activity, and make significant disclosures about their financial operations. That was challenged in a petition, National Organization for Marriage v. McKee (11-599), after the state law was upheld by the First Circuit Court.

This is probably a bigger blow to NOM than most realize. I believe that a significant purpose, if not their primary purpose, is and has been to shield the identities of these people and/or institutions from disclosure. They have allowed for significant portions of state campaigns to be financed without the public knowing who is behind the initiatives and without being held to any form of social consequence.

The timing is very fortuitous. While NOM may drag its feet, I think it likely that the identities will be revealed well before the elections in Washington and Maine.

As society is increasingly seeing the issue of marriage through the lens of fairness and justice, spending huge sums to bar gay people from full inclusion under civil law is increasingly seen as either based in malice or an allocation of funds that could have gone to a far better cause.

It’s not a happy day in NOMville. But, true to form, they are pretending that the world is going just according to their script and there is nary a mention of this catastrophic loss on their blog.

Lindoro, if they refuse, they are both in contempt of court, and doing something illegal, and ergo, the State of Maine and its duly constituted authorities and its courts would act to ensure their ruling is complied with. Since it could be construed as a federal matter, and interstate at that, well, then, the FBI and DOJ could step in. Or they themselves will be taken to court for dereliction of duty. But, in general, judges hate for their decisions to not be followed; they are rarely amused.

probably the reason they are acting like its business as usual is because it is. i doubt they will take any action at all. i doubt the officials in maine will take any action at all. no one will reveal anything and NOM will continue to operate as if nothing happened. i hate to be cynical about the procedure but maybe ill be proven wrong.

“As society is increasingly seeing the issue of marriage through the lens of fairness and justice, spending huge sums to bar gay people from full inclusion under civil law is increasingly seen as either based in malice or an allocation of funds that could have gone to a far better cause.”

It has seemed clear to me that NOM has been gunning for a Supreme Court case that would add a second huge punch to Citizens United: That sources of unlimited funds should be permanently and irrevocably private, or at least private under some limited terms that would apply to NOM donors.

Quite the slap in the face that the Supremes didn’t even want to pick up the phone on this one, though.

This issue has already been decided in Washington state. Those persons signing initiative petitions are signing a public document. Similarly those donating to an initiative in any way shape or form are also not shielded.

Kincaid, your post is off. The case was about whether the Maine election law was constitutional, not whether NOM is required to disclose its donors. If NOM had won on the constitutionality issue, it definitely wouldn’t have to disclose. Since it lost, it may have to disclose. The Maine elections commission will now decide that issue.

BTW, I do wish someone on the planet other than me would take notice of the outrageous hypocrisy of NOM’s suit. For years, NOM has been railing against unelected judges in CA who thwart the will of the people. But in Maine, NOM demanded that an unelected federal judge strike down Maine’s Clean Election Act, which was passed by ballot initiative in 1998. The vote was 56%-44%, a greater margin than was achieved by Prop 8 or Question 1. Apparently, sometimes it is alright for unelected judges to overrule the people.

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.